Load moving device



May 28, 1963 e. N. CHARTIER LOAD MOVING DEVICE 2 .Sheets Sheet 1 FiledMay 8, 1961 INVENTOR,

GUY NOILMAN GHAIQIEK B! i Z ATTowEY May 28, 1963 G. N. CHARTIER3,091,432

LOAD MOVING DEVICE Filed May 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOK euyMom/aw cumming ATTORNEY United States Patent f 3,691,432 LOAD MOViNGDEVICE Guy Norman Chartier, 2231 Eglinton Ave. E., Scarborough, Ontario,Canada Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No. 108,399 8 Claims. c1. 254-69) Thisinvention relates to a multi-operation tool and more particularly to atool having a novel structure which is operatively adaptable for manyuses, especially in automobile repair Work and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tool which is capableof being used to perform many operations, such as, lifting objects,spreading objects apart or moving them together, which heretoforerequired the use of more than one tool.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a portable andreadily operable tool of novel construction which, in addition to beingadaptable to lift objects, spread objects apart or move them together,is equipped to receive a chain or cable thereby enabling the tool toperform these operations through greater distances. The tool isparticularly suitable in automobile repair work involving body and otherheavy parts of an automobile.

The above objects and other objects which will become apparent from areading of this specification are attained by using the tool of thisinvention which comprises in combination with a jack comprising a leg; ahollow body slidably mounted on the leg, said body having a jaw-like,load-engaging projection protruding substantially perpendicular to theleg; means actuating said hollow body for selective travel along saidleg; and a load carrying member rotatably mounted on said body, themember having a cable engaging end portion and an oppositely-disposed,load engaging end portion; a foot mounted on one end of the leg, saidfoot having a heel portion and a toe portion separated by an aperturedsole portion aligned with the cable engaging portion, said toe portioncooperating with said load engaging projection to spread objects apartor move them together when the body is moved on said leg by saidactuating means.

For a better understanding of the construction and operation of thetool, reference is to be had to the following description andaccompanying drawings in which,

- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device embodying the invention,with a cover plate on the hollow housing removed to show the hollow bodyactuating means; and

FIGURE 2 is a side view, partly in cross-section, of the device ofFIGURE 1.

Although particularly suitable in automobile repair work, the tool ofthis invention is useful in other trades or industry.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, the tool comprises a leg extending througha hollow body 11 slidably mounted thereon. The leg, in the embodimentshown, is circular in cross-section but it may have a polygonalcrosssection such as square or hexagonal. With a polygonalcross-section, any tendency of the hollow body to rotate on the leg iseffectively inhibited.

Within the hollow body 11, are disengageable holding means 12 andactuating means 17. As shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2, the hollow body 11 isheld in a rest position on leg 10 by the holding means 12 which comprisea set of three washers 13 disengageably mounted on leg 10 and having aside portion thereof seated in recess 14, the washers 13 being in acanting position for gripping or locking engagement with leg 10. Actingupon the washers 13 is a compression spring 15 mounted on leg 10 andarranged between washers 13 and the upper surface of abutment 16protruding inwardly from the inner wall of hollow body 11. The washers13- are automat- Patented May 28, 1963 2 ically or manually disengagedfrom gripping engagement with leg 10 as hereinafter described.

The actuating means 17 comprise a second set of three smaller washers 18mounted on leg 10 and having a side portion thereof held against theunder surface of abutment 16 by compression spring 19 mounted on leg 10between washers 18 and one inside end 20 of hollow body 11.

The number of washers may be increased or decreased dependingprincipally on the desired load-bearing capacity of the tool.

The hollow body 11 is provided with spaced-apart projections 21a and 21bparallel to leg 10 and with an opening 22 therebetween. Joining lateralprojections 21a and 21b is a pivot pin 23 which has operating lever 24pivotally mounted thereon so that its one end 24a may move withinopening 22. The end 24a of lever 24 is provided with a pair of jaws 25and 26 each operatively engageable with washers 18.

In the operation of the tool, lever 24 is moved counterclockwise so thatjaw 25 forces washers 18 into canting position for gripping engagementwith leg 10. By further counter-clockwise movement of lever 24, leg 10moves relative to the hollow body 11 and shoulder 27 of recess 14simultaneously changes position relative to leg 10 to disengageautomatically Washers 13. When lever 24 is returned by a similarclockwise movement to its original position, jaw 26 co -acting withspring 19 returns washers 18 to their starting position, andsimultaneously spring 15 returns washers 1? to their original holdingposition as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. In this manner, the hollow body 11travels along leg 10 in stepby-step increments and the total distancetravelled is controlled by the number of strokes of the operating lever24.

Under load conditions, the travel of hollow body 11 along leg 10 may bereversed in the following manner:

(1) Operating lever 24 is moved counter-clockwise until washers 18engage leg 10 whereby the load is transferred from washers 13 to washers18;

(2) While maintaining the load on washers 18, washers 13 are manuallydisengaged;

(3) While washers 13 are in a disengaging position, washers 18 areallowed to approach a position substantially perpendicular to leg 10 bya clockwise movement of operating lever 24 so that hollow body 11controllably slides along leg 10. The distance travelled by hollow body11 relative to leg 10 may be selectively arrested by returning washers18 to gripping engagement with leg 10 through the clockwise movement ofoperating lever 24.

Other means could be employed to selectively move hollow body 11 alongleg 10. For instance, a suitable crown and pinnion gear arrangementoperatively connected to an operating lever could be used, the size andratio of gears being predetermined to produce the desired movement ofthe hollow body 11 relative to the leg 14).

In FIGURE 1, cover plate 28 is shown detached from hollow body 11 sothat the holding and actuating means, 12 and 17 may be seen. When thetool is to be used the cover plate 28 will be fastened to hollow body 11by 4 corner screws 29.

One end of hollow body 11 is in the form of a cylinder 36 on which isremovably and rotatably mounted a load carrying member 31. Extendingradially from the cylinder 31 is a pin-like projection 30a which engagesin an annular slot Sill) in the inside Wall of load-carrying member 31so that projection 30a slides in slot 30b when the load carrying memberis rotated on cylinder 30. A longitudinal slot 300, symmetrical andperpendicular to slot 36b, is also provided in the inside Wall of member31. By rotating the load carrying member 31 on cylinder 36 untilprojection 30a registers with slot 300, it may be lifted off cylinder 3%by sliding projection 30a along 3 slot She from slot 30b to the top ofcylinder 30. A re verse operation is followed to mount the load carryingmember 31.

The load carrying member 31 has oppositely-disposed, projecting endportions 32 and 33, end portion 32 having a groove 34 in its uppersurface for engaging a cable 35 and end portion 33 having a serratedgripping section 36 in its upper surface for engaging a load.

When the cable 35 is used with the tool, an intermediate portion in theform of an uncrossed loop All of the cable 35 is looped over groove 34.The ends of the cable pass through opening 37a in a sole portion 37,separating a heel portion 44 and a toe portion 38, of a foot 3? which isremovably keyed to one end of leg 16) by a pair of pins 40. The opening37a is aligned with the grooves 34 of end portion 32 during theoperation of the tool equipped with the cable. One of the cable endportions 42 and 43 which have been passed through opening 37a, isanchored to some fixed member (not shown) while the other cable endportion is attached to a movable load (not shown), the end portions 42and 43 being at an angle of less than 180 to loop 41 and usually, asshown in FIGURE 1, at substantially a right angle to loop 41. When thehollow body 11 is actuated for travel along leg away from foot 39, loop41 is moved under tension so as to slide over groove 34 and end portion43 is drawn through opening 37a thereby moving the load relative to theanchored end of the cable. By reversing the travel of hollow body 11along leg 16' as hereinbefore mentioned, an elevated load may beselectively lowered.

Generally speaking, the tool equipped with a chain or cable may be usedto move any load having a size and/ or weight which may be handled inaccordance with the load-bearing capacity and operation of the tool.

In addition to the operations which may be performed by the tooloutfitted with a chain or cable other embodiments of the tool which areto be described below, enable the tool to be used to lift objects,spread objects apart or move them together, without a chain or cable.

The heel portion 44 of foot 39 is supported by 4 corner posts 45 whichmay be used as a base when the tool is used essentially as a jack. Insuch cases, load carrying member 31 is desirably rotated so that eitherend portion 32 or 33 is positioned under the object to be raised, e.g. abumper of a car, and operating lever is accessible to the operator. Thehollow member is then actuated for travel away from foot 39 causing theload carrying member 31 to engage and subsequently raise the object.

On the side of heel 4-4 is a load-engaging projection 46 comprising apair of oppositely-disposed, spaced-apart grooves 47 and 48. Theload-engaging projection 46 cooperates with either end portion 32 or 33of load carrying member 31 to spread objects apart or move them togetherwhen the hollow body 11 is moved on leg 10 by the actuating means 17. Tomove objects apart either groove 34 or serrated gripping section 36engages one object while groove 47, engages another object and hollowbody 11, after being rotated on leg 10 so that operating lever isconveniently and operatively accessible to an operator, is movedrelative to leg 1% A similar procedure is followed to spread objectsapart except that hollow body 11 is in a reverse position on leg it)accomplished by simply removing it and remounting it in an upside downcondition so that groove 34 and section 36 face towards, rather thanaway from foot 39.

The toe portion 38 of foot 39 is provided with gripping serrations 49and 50 on its lower and upper faces respectively and a groove 51parallel to the length of opening 37a and between serration 50 and acylindrically shaped end 52 of toe portion 38. Serrations 49 and 50cooperate with either end portion 32 or 33 of load carrying member 31 ina manner similar to that described in connection with grooves 47 and 48to spread objects apart or move them together. The procedure is the sameas previously described in connection with grooves 47 and 48. Theserrations 49 and 5d are used instead of grooves 47 and 48 in situationswhere the grooves cannot engage the object because of the distancebetween the groove and the object or in situations where the serratedsurface provides a better gripping engagement with the object than thegroove.

The cylindrical end 52 of toe portion 38 is also used in cooperationwith load carrying member 31 in a similar manner as just previouslydescribed for spreading objects apart or moving them together. Thecylindrical end 52 engages an object which can only be engaged by meansof a hole or other opening in the object, the hole or opening having aconfiguration which will not permit engagement by grooves 47 or orserrations 49 or 50. For an example of the use of cylindrical end 52,reference is made to automobile repair work where the object to beengaged is a body section having a relatively large, smooth surfaceexcept for a small circular opening.

Cooperating with groove 51 of toe portion 38 to spread objects apart isa jaw-like, load engaging projection 72:: protruding from hollow body 11substantially perpendicular to log it}, projection 72a and groove 51having inter-engageable, mating faces. When hollow body 11 rests againstfoot 39, so that projection 72a is mating with groove 51, thecombination of projection 72a seated in groove 51 may be inserted in aspace, which is too small to receive the cooperating parts of the toolhereinbefore described, between two objects in order to spread theobjects apart by actuating hollow body 11 along leg 10.

As an additional feature of the tool of this invention, cylinder 36 isprovided with inner threads 54 into which may be fitted one end formedwith screw threads of a hollow extension leg 53 as shown in FIGURES 1and 2. The extension leg 53 is hollow to accommodate leg 10 which duringan operation may extend beyond hollow body 11. A load carrying member 55is removably keyed to the other end of extension leg 53 by pin 56,member 55 being provided with projecting end portions 57 and 5-8 whichare similar to projections 32 and 33 respectively of load carryingmember 31 except that projection 58 is in a reverse position to thatoccupied by projection 33. In cases where the objects to be spread apartor moved together are so far apart that load-carrying member 3-1 incooperation with foot 39 cannot be used to per-form these operations,extension leg 53 outfitted with the load carrying member 55 at one endmay be used whereby load-carrying member 55 cooperates with foot 39 in asimilar manner as described for loadcarrying member 31. For instance,after extension leg 53 is selectively threaded into cylinder 30 untilthe hollow body is mounted on leg 10 for convenient and accessibleoperation of operating lever 24-, projecting end portion 59 may be usedin cooperation with groove 4-7v of heel projection -46 for spreadingobjects apart.

Threads 54a, similar to threads 54, are provided in the other endopening 60* of hollow body 11 so that extension leg 53 may be screwedtherein when hollow body 11 is reversibly mounted on leg 10' forspreading objects apart as described above.

To strengthen leg 10 and increase the load-bearing capacity of my toolwhen it is outfitted with cable 35, a bar es, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2,may be removably mounted on foot 39 by screwing one end of bar 68 in athreaded opening 69 in the sole portion 37 of foot 3-9 between opening37a and serration 50 as shown in FIG- URE 2. The other end portion 70passes freely through a longitudinal aperture 71 in hollow body 11.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In combination with a jack comprising a leg; a hollow body slidablymounted on the leg, said body having a jaw-like, load engagingprojection protruding substantially perpendicular to the leg; meansactuating said hollow body for selective travel along said leg; and aload carrying member rotatably mounted on said body, the member having acable engaging end portion and an oppositely-disposed, load engaging endportion; a foot mounted on one end of the leg, said foot having a heelportion and a toe prtion separated by an apertured sole portion alignedwith the cable engaging portion, said toe portion cooperating with saidload engaging projection to spread objects apart or move them togetherwhen the body is moved on said leg by said actuating means.

2. The tool according to claim 1, the additional feature of a loadengaging projection on said heel cooperating with said load engaging endportion to spread objects apart or move them together when the body ismoved on said leg by said actuating means.

3. The tool according to claim 2, in which said loadengaging heelprojection comprises a pair of oppositelydisposed, spaced apart grooves.

4. The tool according to claim 1 in which said projection and said toeportion have inter-engageable mating faces.

5. The tool according to claim 1, in which said heel portion issupported by four corner legs.

6. The tool according to claim 1, the additional feature of a hollow barmounted on said hollow body to form an extension of said leg, the insidecross-section of the hollow bar permitting said leg to enter the hollowbar when the leg extends beyond the hollow body, the load carryingmember being mounted on said hollow bar.

7. The tool according to claim 1, wherein the toe portion has serratedupper and lower faces engageable 6 With an object and a cylindricallyshaped end engageable in circular openings in objects.

8. In combination with a jack comprising a leg; a hollow body slidablymounted on the leg, said body having a jaw-like, load engagingprojection protruding substantially perpendicular to the leg; meansactuating said hollow body for selective travel along said leg; and aload carrying member rotatably mounted on said body, the member having acable engaging end portion and an oppositely-disposed, load engaging endportion; a foot mounted on one end of the leg, said foot having a heelportion and a toe portion separated by an apertured sole portion alignedwith the cable engaging portion, said heel portion having a loadengaging projection com prising a pair of oppositely-disposed, spacedapart grooves coop-crating with said load carrying member to spreadobjects apart or move them together when the body is moved on said legby said actuating means, said toe portion cooperating With said loadcarrying member independently to spread objects apart or move themtogether when the body is moved on said leg by said actuating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS397,635 Flatau Feb. 12, 1889 1,276,702 Anderson Aug. 27, 1918 2,222,910Lucker Nov. 26, 1940 2,638,318 Nampa May 12, 1953 2,716,536 GonzalesAug. 30, 1955 2,974,931 Reel et a1. Mar. 14, 1961

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A JACK COMPRISING A LEG; A HOLLOW BODY SLIDABLYMOUNTED ON THE LEG, SAID BODY HAVING A JAW-LIKE, LOAD ENGAGINGPROJECTION PROTRUDING SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE LEG; MEANSACTUATING SAID HOLLOW BODY FOR SELECTIVE TRAVEL ALONG SAID LEG; AND ALOAD CARRYING MEMBER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BODY, THE MEMBER HAVING ACABLE ENGAGING END PORTION AND AN OPPOSITELY-DISPOSED, LOAD ENGAGING ENDPORTION; A FOOT MOUNTED ON ONE END OF THE LEG, SAID FOOT HAVING A HEELPORTION AND A TOE PORTION SEPARATED BY AN APERTURED SOLE PORTION ALIGNEDWITH THE CABLE ENGAGING PORTION, SAID TOE PORTION COOPERATING WITH SAIDLOAD ENGAGING PROJECTION TO SPREAD OBJECTS APART OR MOVE THEM TOGETHERWHEN THE BODY IS MOVED ON SAID LEG BY SAID ACTUATING MEANS.